Fly
by Aphrodite17
Summary: Sarah is Rafe's little sister, but things change between her and Danny when they get older.


Fly  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rafe, Danny, Mr. Walker, Mr. and Mrs. McCawley or the plane. But I do own Sarah.  
  
Stealing sucks and so do the people who do it. If you wanna borrow something of mine, please ask first! :-)  
  
  
chapter one - the good ol' days  
  
The summers in Tennessee were always the same: hot days and warm nights, fireflies buzzing about, Dad's red plane gracing the skies. We all waited all year for summer to finally arrive, because that's when we could be free. All that mattered to us was making sure we didn't crash the plane when we landed, and that never happened, especially when Rafe or Danny flew it. I, however, was a different story. I could fly better than any of the other boys in the fields, except Rafe and Danny, but I wasn't Amelia Earhart.   
  
Ever since I could remember, flying has been a big part of my life. Pa would fly over the fields to do his crop dusting every day, we would always watch from the tree house or the old barn. Pa wasn't any ace pilot, but he could maneuver his way over a field to get the job done quite well.  
  
I remember the first day I ever flew. I was eight, and Rafe had dared me to fly it over the fields and land it on our "runway," a long patch of grass. Being a tomboy, I was no chicken and I took the dare. I had never flown before, and the guys were two years older than me, so they would make my best try look like squat. So I took a deep breath and climbed into the cockpit, flipped a couple of switches, and made a bumpy flight over the corn field, and barely missed the last few stalks when I landed. Believe me, my landing wasn't anything to be proud of: I broke of a part of the propeller and Pa had to get it fixed.   
  
Anyway, Rafe, Danny and I were always together. They were your typical Tennessee farm boys, and I was the typical Tennessee farm tomboy. I did everything with them: swimming, flying, chores. Yeah, I was even happy to do chores as long as they were around me. They were my two best friends in the world, and Ma didn't like it at all. She said I was too much of a boy, and would always try to dress me up in ribbons and boys and pink frilly dresses. But I would always tear them off when I got outside, put on a T-shirt and an old pair of Rafe's overalls, and join the guys at whatever they were doing.  
  
Rafe and Danny were my big brothers. They looked out for me, even though they never showed it. They treated me like dirt, to see if I could handle their ridicule, but I handled it just fine, and therefore gained a whole different trust from them. They eventually (dare I say liked) accepted my constant presence around them, and we became best friends. Now most people would say "well, Rafe was your brother and Danny was his best friend, so duh." But I had to work hard to be their friend, just like I would have had to with any other boys.  
  
Yeah, Tennessee summers were great, except for the one thing that scarred me for life.  
  
  
chapter two - mr. walker  
  
Although my life in Tennessee was perfect, there was one thing that I saw that I'll never forget.  
  
I was about twelve, and Rafe and Danny were about fourteen. We were in the barn, and they were fixing up the old cockpit that we had played in so many times. They were going to move it to the corner of the barn, so it would be out of the way for them to build gliders. I was clearing the corner, which had a bunch of buckets of old paint. Every time I took one outside, I passed them, talking amongst themselves. I felt kind of left out, but I didn't really mind all that much.   
  
Then, when I was outside loading the truck with paint, I heard Mr. Walker calling Danny.  
  
"Danny!" I called to him. "Danny! Your pa's callin' ya." He turned around and swept a lock of hair from his face. We all saw Mr. Walker coming across the field. I saw Danny gulp, and I wasn't sure why. I mean, I knew that Mr. Walker was a tough pa to Danny. They were such opposites: Mr. Walker was tough, and Danny was the nicest guy I'd ever met.  
  
"I'll see you, Rafe," he told my brother. Rafe was still watching Mr. Walker.  
  
"Yeah, see ya," he said, not moving his gaze from the oncoming figure. Danny jumped down and walked toward the door where I was standing. He raised his hand and messed my hair.  
  
"See ya, Sar," he told me, and gave me slight smile. It was a nervous one, I could tell.  
  
"Bye," I said, and I backed up to the cockpit, and climbed in to get a better view.  
  
"What's go—" I started, but Rafe clapped his hand over my mouth.  
  
"Shhh!" he whispered harshly in my ear, and I shut up. He moved his hand away, and we peered intently at the Walkers.  
  
"What were you doing here, Danny? I told you not to be with that McCawley kid." I saw my brother start to rise up in anger.  
  
"But Pa, he's my best friend," said Danny, desperately trying to please his pa. I wrung my hands together in anticipation.   
  
"I told ya, I don't want you around that kid!"  
  
"But Pa!" And that's when it happened. Mr. Walker raised his arm and slapped his son across the face. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand.  
  
I looked behind me, but Rafe wasn't there. Then I saw him, holding the two-by-four that held the cockpit's propeller in place. Slowly but surely, he crept behind Mr. Walker, and hit him one on the back. He lunged forward, and Danny leapt out of the way, watching his pa go flat on his face.  
  
"You dirty German!" Rafe yelled. Mr. Walker hurried to his feet, and saw the hate in my brother's eyes. I swear, Mr. Walker had tears in his eyes. I quietly jumped off the cockpit and emerged from the barn, to see the scene up close.  
  
"I was in those trenches, fighting off the Germans. I saw what no man should ever see. Don't you call me a dirty German." He looked as though he was going to cry. For a moment, I thought he was going to whack Rafe, but he just turned and headed back to his house.  
  
"C'mon, Danny," he said, not turning around. Danny watched his pa enter the field, and then turned to Rafe.  
  
"You're my best friend, Rafe," he said, putting his hand on Rafe's shoulder. My brother just smiled.  
  
"And what about me?" I asked innocently, walking up to him. He smiled and put his arm around my neck, pulling me to his side.  
  
"You're my little sister," he said, and then walked away.  
  
That was the first, last, and only time I saw Mr. Walker hit Danny. I remember crying myself to sleep that night, thinking about how poor Danny must feel. And I promised myself that I would never, ever do that to anyone.  
  
Except maybe Rafe.  
  
  
chapter three - dropping a hint  
  
When I was fifteen years old, Pa broke his arm and couldn't fly. So he made Rafe and I take turns crop dusting. But since I couldn't fly that well, I usually let Danny fly my week. I could tell he loved flying as much as Rafe did. He took to the skies and seemed so perfect there, like it was all meant to be. It was a beautiful sight, watching the old red McCawley biplane grace the cloudless Tennessee morning skies. It was a sight I had seen so many times in my life, but it was so different when the guys were flying. Rafe was fast and technical, doing his fancy air force moves. But Danny was the most calm and graceful pilot I had ever seen. He was so fluent and thorough with his glides, and his barrels weren't fast and wild like Rafe's, but refined and easy.  
  
That summer, Ma made me wear a dress every day. I still didn't care for them, and I still stole Rafe's old T-shirt and overalls when I went with them, but when I was just laying on the grass, watching the clouds soar across the sky, I kind of liked wearing my dress. I combed my hair nice so it fell to my shoulders and sat there, little waves gracing it every so often. I could tell I was shocking the guys with my sudden turn from tomboy to all-American girl. There was one time I remember in particular.  
  
It was a Sunday, and we had all just come back from church. The hymn we were singing was still ringing in my ears when we got home. Even though he was seventeen, Rafe still ran up to his room and changed into a T-shirt and jeans when he got home like he was ten. I would put my hat and gloves in the house and then go to the flower field and lay among the daisies and watch the plane take to the skies. I could tell when Rafe or Danny was piloting, and Rafe was today, with his sharp turns and loop-de-loops. After a few minutes in the air, they landed and came to the field, knowing I'd be there. I heard them coming and sat up, waiting. They plopped down beside me, one on each side.   
  
"Why, you look pretty today, miss," said Rafe.  
  
"Why thank you, sir. And what might your name be?"  
  
"Well, miss, I'm Rafe McCawley, and this is my best friend Danny Walker."  
  
"How do you do?" asked Danny, standing up and bowing. He sat back down, smiling. "And what do people call you?"  
  
"Most of them call me Sarah McCawley, but you two can call me Fly. Do you reckon we're related, Rafe?"  
  
"I do believe so, my dear little sister." Okay, I know that all sounded really stupid, but we did that every Sunday. See, one day Ma caught Rafe teasing a girl and said he ought to have some manners. So he came crying to me about it, and so far, he's actually been nice—but only on Sunday mornings in the flower field, and around Ma.  
  
"Okay, Fly, listen. We're going to the movies. If you wanna come with us, meet us at the truck," Rafe told me. He walked back toward the house, but Danny stayed behind. He looked down nervously, and I wondered what was going on in that mind of his.  
  
"Sarah, you do look quite nice today," he said. I was taken aback by his remark, but I tried not to show it. But I guess I did. "I-I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I-I didn't mean that like that, I just, well, y-you do look nice today, a-and, I-I, uh, I gotta go. I'll see you at the barn." He turned and ran to the house. I bent down to pick a flower and put the daisy in my hair. I was still smiling. Rafe had told me that Danny liked me, but I didn't think much of it. But now I knew he really did. And I think I did too.  
  
Later, at the movies, whenever a light screen came on, I would glance over at Danny, who was two seats over from me next to Rafe. He didn't look any different in particular, popping popcorn into his mouth. I looked back at the screen, but my mind kept straying from the movie. I couldn't stop thinking about Danny. I knew I shouldn't have thought about him, because I didn't want to think about him like that. But I couldn't help it. I was starting to fall for my big brother.  
  
  
chapter four - first kiss  
  
A few weeks after that Sunday, Rafe, Danny and I were planning to go to the show again. But it was the week report cards came home, and unfortunately for Rafe, he had bad marks. So Ma told him he couldn't go. He got so mad, saying that he was graduating in three months and that marks didn't matter any more.  
  
"But if you keep getting bad marks, you won't graduate, and you'll have to go back to school." That shut him up. So Danny and I ended up going alone. I was kind of nervous that we were going to be alone, but I couldn't tell if he was feeling the same way. Sometimes, he was hard to read, and this was one of those times.  
  
"What would you like to see?" he asked me. There were only two choices, so there wasn't much of a decision to be made, but I picked the comedy because I wasn't really in the mood for a sad movie, even though I felt low enough to be in one. I couldn't decide what to do about this whole situation. I was very confused because I had never felt this way about anyone. And I didn't want to feel this way. Not right now. Not about Danny Walker.  
  
We walked in and found two empty seats in the theater. In a few minutes, the room got dark and the movie started. I actually paid attention to the movie this time, and forgot about my problem. But in an hour, the show was over, and we left.  
  
"So, what do we do know, Sarah?" he asked me, shoving his hands into his pockets. I looked up at him, into his eyes. I had known him forever but I had never looked at his eyes. They sparkled brown, and I couldn't look away. I realized this wasn't what I wanted to be doing, and I pulled away from his stare, afraid.  
  
"C'mon," he said, smiling. "I want to show you something." He took my hand and pulled me away with him. We ran across the fields, through wildflowers and prickly bushes, but finally reached a tall tree.  
  
"Have you ever been here before, Danny?" I asked him. He nodded as he climbed up a limb and helped me up to the next.  
  
"I used to come here after my pa—" he stopped, looked up and then climbed up another limb, and then helped me up. "When I was little, I used to run here and climb up here."  
  
"Why?" I asked as I climbed up another branch higher.  
  
"If Rafe and I got in a fight, or something." We had reached a pretty large branch and we sat on it together.  
  
I could barely breathe, I was so nervous. I loved being there, next to Danny, without my brother, but I was scared, too. I didn't know what was going to happen. We each looked around for a while, and then I felt a stare. I turned to see Danny's dark eyes looking into my own. I felt a tingly sensation run up and down my spine, and I shivered slightly. A slight breeze blew through the crisp Tennessee air.  
  
"What is it, Danny?" I asked him quietly. I was sort of embarrassed, sort of scared and very curious.  
  
"You're just so beautiful," he whispered. I leaned back in surprise and had to catch myself before I fell. He quickly put his arm out to get me, but I didn't need it. I sat back up straight, but he didn't move his arm. We just kept looking at each other. And then, he leaned forward. I knew he was going to kiss me, so I just leaned forward expectantly. I didn't know what else to do. Then he kissed me. It was light, pure. Full of honesty and trust. It was as though he was telling me everything he wanted to in one kiss. I wanted it to last forever, but he pulled away.  
  
"That was nice," I said. He shyly smiled and looked down.  
  
"So..." he said, still sheepishly grinning. He looked handsome like that, with a awkward smirk.  
  
"So..." I replied, biting my lip.   
  
"Where does this take us?" he said, his face getting serious. "I mean, Sarah, I don't want to ruin anything with that-that kiss." I looked at him intently with a soft gaze, hoping to ease him. "But I don't regret it," he added quickly.  
  
"You didn't ruin anything, Danny. And there's nothing to regret. It was lovely." Then I caught myself. I was changing. It wasn't because of Danny though. I wasn't a 12-year-old tomboy following my brother and his best friend everywhere. I was a fifteen-year-old girl, who was in love for the first time.  
  
  
chapter five - the fight  
  
Danny and I were walking back home a couple hours later, hand in hand. I was nervous about holding his hand the closer we got to the house. I didn't know what Rafe would say. I didn't want to ruin anything with Rafe right now. Not when I needed him the most.  
  
We finally reached the "runway" and I saw Rafe in the barn. He poked his head out, and he was gaping. I nervously pulled my hand away from Danny's grasp. He looked at me, as if to say "are you all right?" I could tell everything from his eyes.  
  
"Sarah! What are you doing?" he screamed, running to us. He finally reached us, and he looked at me, then Danny, then at me again.  
  
"Danny? How could you?"  
  
"Rafe, don't get mad—" Danny started, but my brother wouldn't let him finish.  
  
"Don't get mad? Don't get mad? How could I not get mad? You were, you were... I don't even want to know." He put his hands up and looked away.  
  
"Rafe, please, look, I can explain everything," I desperately tried.   
  
"Yeah, you'd better do a good job at it. How could you, Sarah?"  
  
"It wasn't her," said Danny, stepping between Rafe and I, his head held high. Rafe had a confused look on his face.  
  
"What? Danny, you, you, how could you? She's my sister, for God's sake!"  
  
"Yeah, well she was my little sister too," Danny said. "Look, I know what I did probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it was just a kiss, nothing more."  
  
"You kissed her?" Rafe screamed. He raised his fist and hit Danny in the nose. He stumbled backward, holding his nose. I brought down his hand and saw a lip full of blood.  
  
"What did you do that for?" I screamed at him. I hit him a good one back. "That is for what you did to Danny." He was still dazed when I hit him again. "And that was from me. I'm still your little sister, but you don't have to protect me like I'm breakable."  
  
Rafe looked up with rage in his eyes. I saw his lip was bleeding too. I gasped and fell to my knees. Danny fell to my side. With his hands on my face, he looked at my tear-streaked cheeks.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked me. I nodded, and he took me into his arms. I leaned against his shoulder, and he put a hand on my back and the other on the back of my head.  
  
I turned and saw Rafe standing there.  
  
"See if you wanna kiss him now," he said, his voice low with anger. He turned, but I knew he would look back, so I put one hand on Danny's shoulder and the other on his neck, and kissed him. I didn't care if his lip was bloody or not. I didn't care if Rafe would never talk to me again. I just wanted to show him that I, I, I loved him. I didn't want to admit it before, but I had always loved him. Before, it was just a brotherly love, but now it was a passionate love.  
  
I pulled away to see Rafe's disgusted face. Danny was just staring back at me, a strange feeling in his eyes.   
  
"Wow," he whispered. "But I need to go to Rafe—" I put a finger to his bleeding lip.  
  
"I love you," I managed to whisper. I couldn't believe I had said that. I was afraid, but Danny just looked at me, his eyes sparkling.  
  
"And I love you," he whispered back. He stood up and helped me to my feet, but he wouldn't let go of my hand. We stood there for a long time, just looking at each other, silently.  
  
"Let's go clean up your nose," I said, and I turned to go to the house. But he stood firm and pulled my back to his stance.  
  
"I really did mean that, Sarah," he told me. He leaned down and kissed me again. I knew that I had ruined things with Rafe for a while, but I had built something new with Danny. Something beautiful and passionate. Even though I was sacrificing one brother for the other, I knew this was all meant to be. And as I stood there, kissing him in his arms, I knew everything would be fine.  



End file.
